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There is no shelter forum (hint hint) or is there?, but it's for the S-280 and the only place you find them except on the ground is on a deuce, so...
This is an account of building and installing a 12000BTU split-system air conditioner in an S-280 on a deuce.
I have been running a small 8000BTU air conditioner that weighs about 65 lbs and is mounted in an air conditioner hatch. In the summer sun and with people going in and out and the door being opened and shut, the coolest I've been able to keep the inside of the shelter is 80 degrees. 100 outside, 120 on the shelter skin from the sun, 100 on the interior skin, and 80 is the air temperature. Too hot especially with the radio gear and computers on.
While a 1-ton (12000BTU) unit might fit in an S-280 hatch, it is generally too heavy at 120-140 LBS to risk mounting there unless you have the near-unobtainable military hardware. It's not just the larger compressor, it's the larger fan motor, heaver electrical parts, coils, frame, casing.. it adds up. (For an M109 truck, the body is stronger so there is usually not an issue.)
I decided to split up the weight and bulk and put the condenser on the outside and the evaporator on the inside with copper lines between them.
I found a 60-lb condensing unit which came off a reach-in cooler like where you get yer beer out of at the 7-11 and was rated for 12000BTU. (the condensing unit is same as the part of your central air that sits outside and compresses then cools and liquifies the refrigrant) I have had that condensing unit hanging on the outside of my truck shelter for a couple years now.
It was in the afternoon and we took it down and investigated because it had to be cleaned up, etc.
The compressor was dead and a line was cracked but we decided to fix it. I canibalized an old 120V 1-ton window unit for a similar size compressor. The copper pipes in the condensing unit had to be re-routed because the "new" compressor was a tight fit. Once this was done and the electrical wiring for the start and run windings of the compressor were figured out, I applied power and saw 10 amps on the clamp-on ammeter which is a good thing. My friend Jack who is an a/c repairman (and all along said this was too much adventure for sane people) was helping me by doing the soldering of the copper lines and vacuum/charge the system. So no one can say I don't know Jack about a/c.
The unit was carried on my shoulder up a 6 FT ladder to the roof of the truck (nicely and uniformly dented in now!!) and handed over to Jack and he set it in the mount I previously built onto the frontside of the shelter. We had to do this prcedure three times due to unforseen things being crapped up. "it's leaking", "another leak", the "wire is shorting out.." and in the middle of these amusements, the police helicopter happened to show up searching about 150 yards away. Then someone started shooting over there and Jack got off the truck roof at that point. So we broke out a couple weapons and waited a little while and then went back to work. Gotta love saturday night in the ghetto. the circus is always open and the clowns never sleep. About all this up and down carrying, I can point out that when a 60LB hard weight is on your shoulder it really doesn't matter whether you are ascending or descending a ladder, you just want it done. Once you do this enough, you pass the point of saying 'bolt it' and insist on finishing the job.
A 2" diameter hole was drilled through the shelter front wall with a hole saw and the copper lines and power cable were stuck through.
Inside, I put the evaporator which I had already built out of some sheetmetal and angle iron with a 450CFM blower and the evaporator coil from an old 1-ton window a/c unit. The blower 'sucks' the air in from the side through an 8" duct and pressurizes the entire box. The air is not directed at the condenser but is free to flow through it. There is about 1/8" water static pressure so I'm good with the CFM. The drip pan is a two-chamber one, that is, a 1" deep pan the coil sits in, and under that, a 3/4" tall pan where the water can collect and run out through a hose. This way there is no issue of incorrect drainage if the truck is parked at an incline or tilt.
So we vacuumed and charged it, and once done the reward after a few minutes of operation was 34 degree air.. Exhaling into the cool air output of it made a fog as though it were winter. We were laughing our asses off and smoking cigarrettes and reveling in the freezing air. It was 3 AM.
I do not know how long this contraption will last, everything came friom junk piles, and it still needs a thermostat to regulate it, but for now I am happy with it.
This is an account of building and installing a 12000BTU split-system air conditioner in an S-280 on a deuce.
I have been running a small 8000BTU air conditioner that weighs about 65 lbs and is mounted in an air conditioner hatch. In the summer sun and with people going in and out and the door being opened and shut, the coolest I've been able to keep the inside of the shelter is 80 degrees. 100 outside, 120 on the shelter skin from the sun, 100 on the interior skin, and 80 is the air temperature. Too hot especially with the radio gear and computers on.
While a 1-ton (12000BTU) unit might fit in an S-280 hatch, it is generally too heavy at 120-140 LBS to risk mounting there unless you have the near-unobtainable military hardware. It's not just the larger compressor, it's the larger fan motor, heaver electrical parts, coils, frame, casing.. it adds up. (For an M109 truck, the body is stronger so there is usually not an issue.)
I decided to split up the weight and bulk and put the condenser on the outside and the evaporator on the inside with copper lines between them.
I found a 60-lb condensing unit which came off a reach-in cooler like where you get yer beer out of at the 7-11 and was rated for 12000BTU. (the condensing unit is same as the part of your central air that sits outside and compresses then cools and liquifies the refrigrant) I have had that condensing unit hanging on the outside of my truck shelter for a couple years now.
It was in the afternoon and we took it down and investigated because it had to be cleaned up, etc.
The compressor was dead and a line was cracked but we decided to fix it. I canibalized an old 120V 1-ton window unit for a similar size compressor. The copper pipes in the condensing unit had to be re-routed because the "new" compressor was a tight fit. Once this was done and the electrical wiring for the start and run windings of the compressor were figured out, I applied power and saw 10 amps on the clamp-on ammeter which is a good thing. My friend Jack who is an a/c repairman (and all along said this was too much adventure for sane people) was helping me by doing the soldering of the copper lines and vacuum/charge the system. So no one can say I don't know Jack about a/c.
The unit was carried on my shoulder up a 6 FT ladder to the roof of the truck (nicely and uniformly dented in now!!) and handed over to Jack and he set it in the mount I previously built onto the frontside of the shelter. We had to do this prcedure three times due to unforseen things being crapped up. "it's leaking", "another leak", the "wire is shorting out.." and in the middle of these amusements, the police helicopter happened to show up searching about 150 yards away. Then someone started shooting over there and Jack got off the truck roof at that point. So we broke out a couple weapons and waited a little while and then went back to work. Gotta love saturday night in the ghetto. the circus is always open and the clowns never sleep. About all this up and down carrying, I can point out that when a 60LB hard weight is on your shoulder it really doesn't matter whether you are ascending or descending a ladder, you just want it done. Once you do this enough, you pass the point of saying 'bolt it' and insist on finishing the job.
A 2" diameter hole was drilled through the shelter front wall with a hole saw and the copper lines and power cable were stuck through.
Inside, I put the evaporator which I had already built out of some sheetmetal and angle iron with a 450CFM blower and the evaporator coil from an old 1-ton window a/c unit. The blower 'sucks' the air in from the side through an 8" duct and pressurizes the entire box. The air is not directed at the condenser but is free to flow through it. There is about 1/8" water static pressure so I'm good with the CFM. The drip pan is a two-chamber one, that is, a 1" deep pan the coil sits in, and under that, a 3/4" tall pan where the water can collect and run out through a hose. This way there is no issue of incorrect drainage if the truck is parked at an incline or tilt.
So we vacuumed and charged it, and once done the reward after a few minutes of operation was 34 degree air.. Exhaling into the cool air output of it made a fog as though it were winter. We were laughing our asses off and smoking cigarrettes and reveling in the freezing air. It was 3 AM.
I do not know how long this contraption will last, everything came friom junk piles, and it still needs a thermostat to regulate it, but for now I am happy with it.
So, technically you now have a walk in beer cooler/commo shelter on your deuce (Sweet)! Also ,it's good to know Jack about a/c.
